Embodiments of the inventive concept relate generally to data storage devices. More particularly, embodiments of the inventive concept relate to data storage devices using a semiconductor device for main storage, and methods of operating the data storage devices.
Recent years have been marked by a continual increase in the demand for digital storage media. To address this increasing demand, researchers have developed and refined data storage devices of various types, each providing advantages and/or drawbacks compared with the others.
Hard disk drives (HDDs), for instance, tend to have relatively high storage density, high data transmission speed, fast data access time, and low cost. But they also tend to suffer from mechanical defects and high power consumption on account of their numerous moving parts.
Due to these and other shortcomings of HDDs, there is an ongoing trend to replace HDDs with solid state disks (SSDs) incorporating nonvolatile memories such as flash memories. These SSDs generally have fewer moving parts than HDDs, and therefore they tend to have fewer mechanical defects and lower power consumption. In addition, the reduction of moving parts can reduce latency and mechanical drive time compared with HDDs, allowing SSDs in some instances to execute read and write operations more quickly than HDDs. Moreover, SSDs can also reduce errors caused by latency and mechanical friction, improving reliability of read and write operations. Finally, SSDs tend to produce less heat and noise than HDDs and are largely resistant to external impact, making them attractive for portable devices.